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Skilled health professionals’ migration and its impact on health delivery in Zimbabwe
Poor working conditions, low salaries and political unrest are the major reasons for migration by health professionals in Zimbabwe
Authors:
A. Chikanda
Publisher:
The Centre on Migration, Policy and Society at the University of Oxford, 2004
This paper, published by the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society, investigates the magnitude of migration of health professionals from Zimbabwe, the causes of such movements and the associated impacts on health care delivery. It establishes the major reasons for migration including: poor living conditions, low wages and political violence. The migration of skilled health workers from Zimbabwe has adversely affected the quality of health care and led to staff shortages, particularly in public institutions. The paper suggests that poor people, who are finding themselves without access to formal health care, are increasingly relying on more affordable services from traditional healers.
The paper concludes that the migration of skilled health workers from public health institutions needs to be addressed urgently by the government and a national database should be set up to provide details of health professionals employed nationally in all health institutions. To retain skilled health personnel the authors recommend that the government should redress the differences in salary between public and private health personnel. In addition, preventative measures should be taken to reduce the stress associated with the fear of exposure of health professionals to HIV, and the grievances of health workers must be addressed without confrontation.
